Jump to content

How To lube your spare tire carrier


msavides
 Share

Recommended Posts

Well I was lubing up my truck and realized that many people my not know how to correctly lube their spare tire carrier. I have seen many of these seize up because they rusted out due to lack of grease. Or the get so hard to move that they actually stress and dent in the rear quarter panel of the truck.

 

On the inside on the hinge with the tire carrier open you will see a little hole. This the where you put in the grease.

 

t_1000041m_1960b2e.jpg

 

You may ask how do you get the grease in there. Well There is a special tool. Here is a photo of it

 

t_1000046m_9a729cb.jpg

 

 

you need to press the needle tip firmly inside the hole keeping pressure on it and then pump the grease inside the hole If you are not all rusted up inside you should see some grease come out the top or the bottom of the hinge. IF this has not been done in a long time you will have rust colored grease come out. If the grease does not come out looking like fresh grease keep pumping it full of grease until it is clean grease. Then do your best to wipe the excess nasty grease off. My lower hinge was rusty grease.

 

If you do not see any grease come out. Pump some in and then work the tire carrier open and closed a few times then try again. Or wait a few days then try it again. It may take some time for the grease to work on some of the crusties that are plugging the grease passage.

 

Good Luck

 

Mark

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about the grease gun?

 

 

That attachment will work with any grease gun. It has a zerk fitting one end and the needle fitting on the other. I bought a pneumatic grease gun from harbor freight for 9 bucks on sale about 6 months ago.

 

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...
How about the grease gun?

 

LOL, I used a standard grease gun, but I lost the needle-type attatchment, and went looking for the little thin straw you get with mosd WD40 cans,

but I couldn'd find it anywhere. I ended up using a straw from a Caprisun juice packet.

 

Was a tight fit, but it worked

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...
Can i use any grease?

I was thinking of using some marine grease but its so sticky it may be overkill? :crossedwires:

I think thats what I used......it was the only stuff they had, and it said 'especially useful for boat trailer axles' so I figured it would work great......two weeks of pumping and working it around turned it from having to body slam it open and closed, to a few fingers to pull it....not exactly FREE motion, but it works fine.

 

 

 

I still haven't gotten grease to come out the top or bottom, it just comes back out the hole :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

This is great advice! My Pathy didn't come with a spare tire rack but I am going to pick one up from the wreckers this weekend, 60 bucks spare tire and all. Im sure it will need some grease, but I am going to have to repaint it first before I put he grease on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

I went out to lube my spare tire carrier today, was going to just spray the top and bottom of the hinge with some WD40 than I noticed the holes, I remembered reading about greasing it on here than looked for this thread. Will have to look for one of those grease gun attachments, for now the WD40 seemed to help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WD40 is not a very good lubricant. Use some bar & chain lube or something instead. I think WalMart sells some chain lube in a spray can, it's like $7 though. Think it's in the motorcycle section.

 

I need to lubricate my spare tire mechanism under my R50... I'll be down there to change the fuel filter soon anyway, just don't know what to use yet. I've got a ton of white lithium grease which would probably work fine. It looks nasty, but it doesn't matter under there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the link above takes you to a drip irrigation kit, don't know if that's where it was supposed to. They have a mini grease gun for about $6 but I think the tip that comes with it is too big and they have an accessory kit that costs more than the mini grease gun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

here is a set that includes the correct one

 

http://www.harborfre...-kit-95904.html

 

 

http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/lnc5803.html

 

if you google search grease gun needle I am sure you will find some other retailers.

 

 

I have heard that napa and oreilly have them as well

Edited by msavides
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...